Thursday, May 8, 2014

A Vision to Pursue

Now more than ever before, your firm vision must be clear and
enduring.

Before
outlining your strategic plan, you must decide who you are and where you want
to be in 5,
10, even 15 years. Many A/E firms operate without such clear vision. It’s as if
they just happened to be in business.

How to get started developing your firm’s vision

Writing
down your vision starts you on the journey. Make your vision describe the work
you’d like
to deliver without regard to financial considerations — the essence of what you
want your firm
to be. Make the vision statement unique, succinct, and tailored to the services
your firm provides.

Six Steps to Achieve a Vision for Your Firm

Follow
these six steps for developing your vision:

1.
Sit in a closed room, and fill a page with your ideas for your firm’s vision.
Open the sluice gates;
let the ideas rush out, and write them all down. Editing has no place here.
Every idea has value.

2.
Put away the paper, and take it out in a couple of days, or even a week. Take a
fresh look. More ideas will surface. Write them down. Other ideas will
coalesce. Keep your larger, long-term goal in mind. The ideas will begin to
take shape.

3.
From your collected and connected ideas, let a sentence emerge. That sentence will
voice the
one underlying, unifying theme — what all of your ideas add up to. It will be
your vision.

4.
Run the sentence by your key people. Together, modify it until you all can
stand behind it.

5.
Print your vision in a graphically compelling format. Then frame it — and don’t
be cheap on the frame.